Entries in tomorrowland
(13)

This concept sketch of the entrance to Disneyland's Tomorrowland is one of the earliest designs for Tomorrowland known to exist. Made in either 1953 or 1954, it's not even known what Disney artist sketched this retrofuturistic gem. The image appears in the book The Art of Disneyland by Jeff Kurtti and Bruce Gordon with over 100 other rare Disneyland concept paintings and illustrations.

As the book hints, Tomorrowland was probably the weakest of Disneyland's themed lands when it opened in 1955, simply because construction didn't even begin until six months prior to the park's opening. For a peek at what Tomorrowland looked like on opening day (the world of 1986!) be sure to check out video of the live broadcast.

Although many attempts at and iterations of a design for Tomorrowland were made between 1953 and 1955, construction on the area did not begin until a scant six months prior to the Park opening in July 1955. This is one of the earliest knoown designs of Tomorrowland, and most variations that followed maintained the same basic footprint of a central "mall" leading to an iconic interior.

The July 15, 1955 Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA) ran a special section devoted to the Disneyland park, which was to be opened just three days later. A short piece devoted to Tomorrowland is featured below.

The Paleo-Future Muxtape is currently featuring 12 tracks of Disney paleo-futurism. Listen while they're hot because this will be a constantly changing mix of audio. For a less paleofuture-focused Disney audio adventure check out the Epcot Muxtape.

First opened in 1955 as "Rocket to the Moon," this attraction was totally re-designed for the new Tomorrowland in 1967. Unfortunately, because the real moon landing occurred in 1969, it soon lost its popularity and was eventually changed to "Mission to Mars."

Now, when we opened Disneyland, outer space was Buck Rogers. I did put in a trip to the moon, and I got Wernher von Braun to help me plan the thing. And, of course, we were going up to the moon long before Sputnik. And since then has come Sputnik and then has come our great program in outer space. So I had to tear down my Tomorrowland that I built eleven years ago and rebuild it to keep pace.